Publications

January 2021
Case

Cinépolis

By: Joshua D. Margolis and Fernanda Miguel

Two weeks after Cinepolis released a documentary film about corruption, a judge ordered its provisional suspension, claiming it had to be edited before it continued to be shown, against Mexican cinematography laws. Cinépolis, Latin America’s largest movie theater chain... View Details

Keywords: Movies; Entertainment; Corruption; Risk Assessment; Communication Strategy; Crime and Corruption; Decision Making; Film Entertainment; Ethics; Leadership; Risk Management; Entertainment and Recreation Industry; Motion Pictures and Video Industry; Mexico; Latin America; North and Central America

July 1997 (Revised February 1998)
Case

Aladdin Knowledge Systems

By: John A. Quelch

The founder, president, and CEO of a leading software security company has just announced the $5.1 million cash acquisition of a key competitor. As a result, his company becomes the market share leader in Europe and number two in the United States. But now, he and the... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Marketing; Applications and Software; Globalization; Acquisition; Sales; Information Technology Industry; United States; Europe

November 2016 (Revised December 2017)
Case

Blake Sports Apparel and Switch Activewear: Bringing the Executive Team Together

By: Boris Groysberg and Katherine Connolly Baden

Cameron (Cam) Barker, founder and CEO of Blake Sports Apparel and Switch Activewear, manufacturers and distributers of sports apparel and accessories, was facing a challenge with his executive team. Their inability to work together on seemingly simple issues was a... View Details

Keywords: Team Dynamics; Team Management; Team Effectiveness; Team Performance; Executive Leadership; Groups and Teams; Leadership; Performance Effectiveness; Apparel and Accessories Industry; United Kingdom

September 1988
Case

Frontier Airlines, Inc. (A) (Condensed)

By: F. Warren McFarlan

Describes a regional airline that is on the losing end of a strategic application of information technology. Management is focusing on internal data processing issues while its principal, and larger, competitor is using its computerized reservations system to gain... View Details

Keywords: Adoption; Business Strategy; Competitive Strategy; Information Technology; Air Transportation; Air Transportation Industry

Find at Harvard

June 2015
Case

The Coca-Cola Company's Case for Creative Transformation

By: Thales S. Teixeira and Elizabeth Anne Watkins

In 2013, the Coca-Cola Company was awarded Creative Marketer of the Year by the Cannes Lions Festival (known as the "Oscar of Advertising") for the first time ever in history and nearly 50 years after the Festival's inception. Just one year before that, Jonathan... View Details

Keywords: Attention Economics; Creating Connections; Digital Marketing; Marketing Innovations; Social Networks; Advertising Content; Networked Brand; Beverage Industry; Coca-Cola; Digital Innovation; Digital Transition; Marketing; Marketing Communications; Innovation Strategy; Social and Collaborative Networks; Advertising; Creativity; Consumer Products Industry

20 Aug 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Spatial Agglomeration and Superstar Firms: Firm-level Patterns from Europe and US

Keywords: by Laura Alfaro, Maggie X. Chen, and Harald Fadinger

08 Feb 2019
Working Paper Summaries

Platform Systems vs. Step Processes—The Value of Options and the Power of Modularity

Keywords: by Carliss Y. Baldwin

June 2014
Case

Going Social: Durex in China

By: Mikolaj Jan Piskorski and Aaron Smith

When Reckitt Benckiser (RB), a leading consumer goods company, first entered China, it encountered significant challenges. RB's strategy relied on selling high margin products supported by cost-effective advertising and distribution, but the highly competitive Chinese... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Multinational Firms and Management; Internet and the Web; Marketing Communications; Brands and Branding; Consumer Products Industry; China

September 1988 (Revised June 1993)
Case

Ring Medical

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Describes the progress of a new product launch (HCS-100, a hospital communication system). Ring Medical has sold only five systems in six months against an annual target of 30. There is a lack of agreement internally on how the new product effort should be organized.... View Details

Keywords: Conferences; Marketing Strategy; Product Launch; Distribution Channels; Performance

2024
Working Paper

Migration, Climate Similarity, and the Consequences of Climate Mismatch

By: Marguerite Obolensky, Marco Tabellini and Charles Taylor

This paper examines the concept of “climate matching” in migration—the idea that migrants seek out destinations with familiar climates. Focusing on the US, we document that temperature distance between origin and destination predicts the distribution of migrants across... View Details

Keywords: Migration; Climate; Immigration; Residency; Weather; Ethnicity; Climate Change; Geographic Location; Policy; United States

Read Now

June 1989 (Revised July 1994)
Case

Ito Yokado

By: Walter J. Salmon

Describes the means by which management has empowered the sales clerks and part time employees of this chain of 131 department stores. They are responsible for all sales and inventory management. This empowerment has led to fewer stockouts, higher sales, lower... View Details

Keywords: Innovation and Management; Management; Distribution; Supply Chain Management; Sales; Japan

July 2024
Case

Stellar Development Foundation

By: Shai Benjamin Bernstein, Scott Duke Kominers and George Gonzalez

Blockchain pioneer Stellar Development Foundation oversees one of the earliest and largest crypto networks (Stellar) and the management of its native token XLM. The foundation partnered with cross-border payments provider MoneyGram to help on and off-ramp... View Details

Keywords: Blockchain; Cryptocurrency; Payments; Business or Company Management; Networks; Partners and Partnerships; Currency; Entrepreneurship; Technology Industry

June 2003 (Revised October 2003)
Case

An Ancient Fable

By: Ashish Nanda

This case presents a thinly disguised account of Andersen's collapse, followed by a tightening of the oversight of audit firms. It raises questions on who lost and who gained, as well as the long-term implications of the changes for the accounting profession and... View Details

Keywords: Accounting Audits; Consulting Industry

17 Nov 2020
News

2020’s Best Places to Shop on Black Friday

March 2022
Case

Auto Mag (Abridged)

By: David E. Bell

A young HBS graduate purchases a publisher of specialty magazines that advertises second hand cars, boats, trucks, etc. The magazines carry photographs and a brief description of each article for sale. The company faces the problem of deciding on how many magazines to... View Details

Keywords: Distribution; Cost Management; Decision Choices and Conditions; Forecasting and Prediction